Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is a stadium that will serve as the home ground for Tottenham Hotspur in north London, replacing the club's previous stadium, White Hart Lane. It has a capacity of 62,062, making it one of the largest stadiums in the Premier League and the largest club stadium in London. It is designed to be a multi-purpose stadium and features the world's first dividing, retractable football pitch, which reveals a synthetic turf pitch underneath for NFL London Games, concerts and other events. The construction of the stadium was initiated as the centrepiece of the Northumberland Development Project, intended to be the catalyst for a 20-year regeneration plan for Tottenham. The project covers the site of the now demolished ground of White Hart Lane and areas adjacent to it. The project was first conceived in 2007 and announced in 2008, but the plan was revised several times, and the construction of the stadium, beset by disputes and delays, did not commence until 2015. The stadium is due to be completed during the 2018–19 season. The stadium is scheduled to open on 3 April 2019 with a ceremony before the first competitive game. The name "Tottenham Hotspur Stadium" is a temporary name, the intention being to sell the naming rights to the stadium, so that it will be named after a sponsor. The stadium is occasionally referred to as New White Hart Lane by fans and some in the media. History Early grounds Tottenham Hotspur was formed in 1882, and the early matches of club were played on public land at Tottenham Marshes. As the matches became more popular with the public and the number of spectators increased, the club decided to move to an enclosed ground so that it could charge an entrance fee and control the crowd. In 1888, the club rented a pitch at Asplins Farm, next to the railway line at Northumberland Park. However, the ground became overcrowded, and in 1899 the club moved to a piece of land to the east of Tottenham High Road, behind the White Hart pub, owned by the brewery company Charringtons. This would become the White Hart Lane ground. The club acquired the freehold of the ground, as well as additional land at the northern (Paxton Road) end, in 1905. Starting in 1909, a stadium, with stands designed by Archibald Leitch, was built over a period of two and a half decades. The stadium would have a capacity of nearly 80,000 by 1934. Over the years, the stadium underwent a number of changes and seating replaced the standing areas, which reduced the capacity to about 50,000 in 1979. Significant standing areas, however, still existed, including the long stretch of raised standing terrace favoured by fans on the East Stand known as The Shelf. Beginning in the 1980s, the White Hart Lane ground was redeveloped, and in order to comply with the recommendation of the Taylor Report, it was turned into an all-seater stadium. The capacity of the stadium was reduced to around 36,000 by the time it was completed in 1998. The capacity was, by then, lower than other major English clubs, with many of these clubs also planning to expand further. As revenues from gate receipts in that period formed a substantial part of the club's income (before it became dominated by TV broadcast rights deals), Tottenham began to explore ways of increasing the stadium capacity so that it could more effectively compete financially with rival clubs. Over the years, a number of schemes were considered, such as rebuilding the East Stand as a three-tier structure and moving to different stadiums and locations, including Picketts Lock and the Olympic Stadium at Stratford, London. These plans however failed to come to fruition, except for a proposal to redevelop the existing site that would become the Northumberland Development Project. Transport The stadium is accessible via a number of London Overground, London Underground and National Rail stations: Seven Sisters, Tottenham Hale, Northumberland Park, and White Hart Lane stations. The nearest station, at around 200 m away, is White Hart Lane (London Overground), which is being rebuilt, and a Wembley-style walkway for fans from the station to the stadium is planned. The stadium area is also served by up to 144 buses an hour. Bus routes that stop close to the ground are 149, 259, 279, 349, and W3. The club will also operate two high frequency shuttle bus services to the stadium, one from Alexandra Palace via Wood Green, and the other from Tottenham Hale. External links * Official Tottenham Hotspur website Category:Tottenham Hotspur F.C. Category:Stadiums Category:Premier League stadiums Category:English stadiums